zero time dilemma

Visual Novels for People Who Don’t Like Visual Novels

June 16, 2017 Kennedy Articles, Blog

Visual novels are one of the most niche genres you can find in Western gaming. In Japanese gaming communities, visual novels are a staple. In the West, not so much. There’s no definitive reason why this large difference in markets exists, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about today.

There’s a number of (not entirely unfair) stigmas on visual novels: “They have 0 gameplay”, “They’re all anime”, “They’re all dating simulators”, “The stories aren’t interesting enough”, “They’re all on PC and I only play console” and so on. And although it’s okay to simply not like visual novels, I also think it’s important to remind people that there are exceptions to these common misconceptions. There are visual novels with more gameplay than others, there are some visual novels that have had official releases on handhelds and consoles in the English speaking market, they’re not all drawn in an anime style, there are some that are American-made, and they’re certainly not all dating sims, for example.

I’ve compiled a list of visual novels that fall into such categories: Visual novels that even people who don’t like visual novels might find worth a try because they break the stereotypical image of the cheap, anime dating sim that most people associate with the phrase “visual novel”. Alternatively, think of this as a list of worthwhile visual novels that a visual novel novice might find as a good starting point for getting into the world of visual novels. And of course, fans of visual novels will probably recognize most–if not all–of these titles, and if they haven’t played them already, I’d highly recommend each and every one of these.

 

Steins;Gate

There’s a good chance you’ve already heard of the prodigal son of the SciAdv series, Steins;Gate, thanks to its critically acclaimed anime. For everything that makes the anime great, it makes the visual novel arguably one of the best of all time. Although heralded as one of the better visual novel adaptation anime, it still doesn’t capture everything in the Steins;Gate story–especially now that the sequel, Steins;Gate 0, is out. The world of Steins;Gate is vast, interesting, well-written, and in one word, memorable.

Set in Akihabara, Japan during the Summer of 2010 (the not-so-distant future at the time it came out), Steins;Gate is the story of a young, down-on-his-luck scientist, Okabe, who finds a way to send text messages to the past. He quickly discovers the dark truth behind the research of time travel, and takes on the task of preventing a dystopian future that it’ll cause at the cost of his sanity and his friend’s lives.

The story of Steins;Gate is one of the most praised in visual novel history. If you’re looking for a visual novel with a gripping story and lovable characters, this is precisely what you’re looking for. It’s also among the most accessible visual novels on this list, as it’s available on Steam, PSVita, and PS3.

 

Katawa Shoujo

What happens when a group of 4channers can’t get enough of a doujinshi artist’s concept sketches? They formalize a team, call it Four Leaf Studios, hire Mike Inel, and make a visual novel based off of those sketches. And so Katawa Shoujo was born in 2012.

You play as Hisao, a high school senior who was just diagnosed with a heart condition. He’s sent to a school for the disabled where he befriends an energetic track star with prosthetic legs, a laid back artist with no arms, the deaf student counsel president (and her translator), the blind yet graceful class representative, a shy burn victim, and the legally blind conspiracy theorist. In a sentence, this is a dating sim featuring a cast of disabled girls.

At its core, Katawa Shoujo is a set of heartwarming stories about self-discovery, acceptance, the thrill of youth, and most importantly, love. Not a single weak character or story exists in this stellar dating sim. Dating sims, more than any other kind of visual novel, are extremely character driven and therefore need a diverse set of interesting, well-written, and likable characters–Katawa Shoujo succeeds with flying colors in this respect, making it one of the best (and most accessible! it’s free on their official website) dating sim visual novels you can find.

 

Zero Escape

I’ve made my opinion on the Zero Escape trilogy (999, Virtue’s Last Reward, Zero Time Dilemma) very clear in the past a number of times–I adore it. It’s one of my favorite trilogies in video games period. It’s a cult-favorite, highly acclaimed trilogy of puzzle visual novels for the gamer who likes a good challenge.

Each game starts out the same way: You (and you play as a number of characters throughout the trilogy, but mostly Junpei and Sigma) and a group are trapped in an enclosed building of some sort and your lives are all on the line–use your scientific prowess and creativity to escape. You’ll die a few times, you’ll come back to life a few times, and most importantly, you must find out who’s behind your imprisonment and why. There is an overarching story throughout the trilogy as well, and therefore, these game absolutely should not be played out of order.

If you enjoy puzzle games that’ll test you to your absolute limit, Zero Escape will more than satisfy. Aside from being an excellent visual novel, each of the Zero Escape games are known for their extremely challenging puzzles that’ll test your creativity, problem solving, scientific knowledge, morals, and ability to listen to their fullest extent. For the visual novel novice who likes puzzle games, Zero Escape is ideal.

 

Ace Attorney

Odds are if you’ve played at least one visual novel without realizing it, then it’s almost definitely an Ace Attorney game. One of Capcom’s most beloved handheld series, Ace Attorney has been around since 2001. Since then it’s had 6 main series games, a few crossovers (most notably with Professor Layton and a cameo by Pheonix in Marvel vs Capcom 3), and a few spinoff games–a few of which were never released outside of Japan.

Ace Attorney tells the story of rookie lawyer Pheonix Wright who only takes cases in which he believes his client is truly innocent–even if the evidence is against them! You’ll explore crime scenes, question witnesses, and face off against a variety of prosecutors who want nothing more than to whip you, throw coffee at you, get you disbarred, or even show you their sick air guitar riffs because they’re a part-time prosecutor, part-time rock star.

Consistency in its incredible writing and fascinating characters are what drives the Ace Attorney series. Its sense of humor is also worth mentioning, as it makes the otherwise serious tone you might suspect of a game about a lawyer disappear almost entirely. Without playing them, most people likely wouldn’t expect a game series about a defense attorney to be even half as entertaining as Ace Attorney is–and Ace Attorney is, without a doubt, not only one of the most entertaining visual novels out there, but entertaining handheld games period.

 

Hotel Dusk: Room 215

One of the most standout titles on the Nintendo DS, Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is a visual novel that does nothing conventionally. From its art style to its story and even the way you actually have to hold the game, Hotel Dusk is, at the very least, one of the most creative visual novels you’ll ever play.

The year is 1979, and a former detective, Kyle Hide, finds himself staying in a rundown hotel with a gaggle of colorful guests. Allegedly, wishes are mysteriously granted to those who stay in the room he’s been assigned. Haunted by the shadows of his past and perplexed by the mysteries surrounding this hotel, you’ll play as Kyle as he solves puzzles and discovers the missing connections between his past and present.

There’s more gameplay in Hotel Dusk than most of the other titles on this list. If a lack of gameplay is one of the major reasons you avoid visual novels, this one would be a bit more up your alley if you like puzzle games or point and click adventures–or even games that are a bit more experimental in their execution. Hotel Dusk is, without a doubt, one of the most memorable games on the Nintendo DS. Hotel Dusk is a must-play for anyone who wants to experience the best of what the beloved handheld has to offer.

 

Danganronpa

Although its anime wasn’t as well-received as Steins;Gate, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is another visual novel with an anime that helped bring it to the forefront of notoriety in visual novel releases in the West. Since its release, it’s had a number of re-releases, spinoffs, and even sequels on various platforms.

In a sentence, Danganronpa is Ace Attorney meets Zero Escape. You play as Naegi–an ordinary high school student with extraordinary luck. So lucky, in fact, that he was randomly selected to enroll in a high school, Hope’s Peak Academy, for the incredibly gifted. When he and his classmates arrive, they’re told that they’ll be held captive in the school forever unless they kill each other. When a student is found murdered, they’ll hold a trial. If the true culprit is discovered, they’ll be executed. If the murder is pinned on the wrong culprit, the innocent will all be executed. In a series of high stakes trials and investigations, you and your fellow classmates must not only solve the mystery of the murders, but the mystery of Hope’s Peak Academy itself and who’s truly behind everything.

Also like Ace Attorney and Zero Escape, it features more gameplay than most visual novels–mostly puzzle solving and trials very similar to Ace Attorney. Admittedly, Danganronpa relies heavier on typical (and often clichéd) anime character tropes than anything else on this list. I’d therefore be more hesitant toward recommending it for the regular anime watcher, but for someone less familiar with the triteness of many of these tropes, this would be fine. I’d therefore call Danganronpa probably the best visual novel entrance point for someone who not only doesn’t play many (if any at all) visual novels, but also just doesn’t watch much–if any–anime either. It is, at the very least, redeemed in its sense of style and a mantra of “Go big or go home” that seems to be thematic throughout the entire game.

 

Hatoful Boyfriend

Have you ever wanted to date a pigeon?

 

Clannad

Like Steins;Gate and Danganronpa, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Clannad thanks to its famously tear-jerking anime. Originally released in 2004 by Key (the makers of many other highly successful visual novels like Kanon, Angel Beats, and Rewrite) , Clannad has managed to survive the test of time better than most other visual novels thanks to its highly praised emotional writing and endearing cast of characters.

The story of Clannad is a simple one: You play as Tomoya, a high school senior, and a bit of a slacker. One day he befriends a cute girl from his school, Nagisa, and through her and the experiences they share, he makes a few other female friends: Now choose one to date. Each girl has her own unique route in the game in which you spend time with her and an after story which acts as an epilogue.

If you like a heartfelt, emotionally charged story then Clannad will deliver. Through highly sympathetic characters, it’s a visual novel that will make you laugh and cry with equal intensity all in the same chapter. If you liked the anime, you’ll love the visual novel. Like Steins;Gate, the anime for Clannad is often praised as being one of the better visual novel adaptation anime, but it’s still far from perfect. Above all, Clannad conveys strong messages of personal growth and learning to love: Ideal for the player who’s going through a rough patch in their lives and in need of encouragement or relatability.

 

 

Asagao Academy

Kickstarted by Cara Hillstock in 2014, Asagao Academy is one of the most charming dating sims you’ll ever play. Ever heard of Normal Boots on YouTube? (ProJared, Peanut Butter Gamer, Did You Know Gaming?, Satchbag, The Completionist, Continue?, and until recently, JonTron) Because it’s a dating sim where you date them.

You play as the cute, pink-haired Hana, as she transfers to a new school after being bullied at her old one. Despite her shy disposition, she’s quickly able to make friends with Mai and the extremely popular Normal Boots Club–which, of course, is made of the guys in Normal Boots. From here, you choose who to spend time with, what you’re doing, and of course, who to date. In dating them, Hana learns more about them, herself, and the potential danger in becoming too close to your friend’s pet bird.

Barring a few in-jokes, being a fan–or even familiar with–Normal Boots isn’t necessary for being able to appreciate Asagao Academy. At its core, Asagao Academy wants to tell stories of people overcoming obstacles in their lives with the help of their friends–romantic or otherwise. Where Asagao shines most is that, unlike most other dating sims, the importance of friendship is also heavily emphasized. Obviously your romantic relationship takes center stage, but friendships with Mai and other members of Normal Boots all still get time to shine–something extremely rare (and extremely wonderful!) in dating sims.

5 Japanese Games that would make Horrible Anime

July 24, 2016 Kennedy Blog

Especially in the midst of the success of the Ace Attorney anime and the convention season, everyone loves talking about what games they think would make good anime–particularly Japanese games for obvious reasons. I’ve watched a pretty fair share in anime in my day, I even co-host a podcast on anime. My point being, I think I know enough about anime and the anime industry that I could make some pretty sound predictions about Japanese games that wouldn’t make good anime. But just to make sure we’re on the same page for this list, let me lay out some rules and disclaimers:

 

 

  • This is NOT a list of my least favorite Japanese games. I’ve exclusively selected games that I like for this list to help get my point across.

  • All the games on this list are Japanese, but they’re not all JRPGs
  • All these are games have not received an anime adaption
  • I’m not saying that these would 100% definitely make bad anime–nor am I implying that they ever will get anime. I have no way of knowing if any of these will ever get an anime, nor would I have any way of knowing if they were bad unless I’ve watched them. These are just educated guesses–games that I think would have a significantly higher chance at having a bad anime regardless of circumstances.
  • When I say “anime” I mean anime–not an OVA, not a movie, not a special. I mean a full-blown anime with at least 12 episodes, though almost certainly more. The fact that most anime from the last decade are 12, 24-26, or 52 episodes should be kept in mind, though. I’m assuming the anime would be an adaptation of the games (EX: Persona 4, Ace Attorney) NOT a continuation, re-imagining, or separate story of any kind (EX: any of the .hack// anime, Advent Children)

On that note…

 

Zero Escape (999/Virtue’s Last Reward/Zero Time Dilemma)

via redbrick.me

Any Zero Escape game–especially Zero Time Dilemma–would make a horrible anime for the same reason Watchmen made a horrible movie and Bioshock would make a horrible anything-but-a-game: The medium this story was told through is no accident–it’s a story that only works as a game. The major theme of the series is learning that your decisions–not the characters in the game, but you, the player–in the game come at a cost, and ultimately, you have to go through every decision to reach a true ending. In an anime, you’d lose that theme: It’s a theme that only works as a game because it’s a theme that thrives on the player’s decision’s. Moreover, without spoiling it, I’ll say that it would also ruin the point of the ending of Zero Time Dilemma, as it also plays into the theme of the player’s choices–not the characters in the game, but the player themselves–will always come at a cost. It’s a very subtle but graceful way of breaking the fourth wall that only works through a medium in which you yourself can make a conscious decision–a medium like a game. In an anime, you don’t have to make decisions, the characters do, and therefore the theme is lost. Again: Bioshock does the exact same thing which is why the idea of a Bioshock movie absolutely sickens me. Watchmen does this as well (although in comic book form) which is partially why the movie never stood a chance at being good.

The entire Silent Hill franchise

via criticalteatime.wordpress.com

Silent Hill is a very tricky beast when it comes to adaptation. As you may or may not know, there have already been 2 Silent Hill movies made in the West. Personally, I think they’re okay movies as long as you’re not considering them to be adaptations of their games (Silent Hill 1 and 3) but rather, a re-imagining. If nothing else, like their games, they’re visually stunning. But there’s a number of reasons why I think any given Silent Hill game wouldn’t make a good anime: First and foremost, the visuals. Silent Hill games are generally made to look like horror movies, which is why we see a realistic art style and dynamic camera angles in each entry. By making it look, well…anime, it loses its tone of realism, and thus a lot of the seriousness would be lost as well as the idea of it being like a horror movie–because now it simply doesn’t look like one. Secondly, it’s a survival horror series: By making it an anime–something you watch rather than experience, you lose the survival aspect of it–therefore losing even more of what makes it Silent Hill. Finally, another important theme in Silent Hill is exploration: Wandering around the almost barren, unfamiliar streets of Silent Hill and exploring–at least when you’re not greeted by a locked door. It’s one thing when you’re the one doing the exploring–it’s another watching someone do it. Although I doubt it would be awful, and of the games on this list I think that (if it were Silent Hill 1-4) a Silent Hill game would have a higher chance of being at least somewhat more interesting than the rest of these, but because so much of the already short Silent Hill games are spent exploring and solving puzzles, I doubt simply watching it (which you’d almost certainly have to because Silent Hill games are so short) would be as fun. Without a doubt it would lead to pacing issues that simply aren’t present in the games. I think that, if done properly, a really good Silent Hill–and I mean really good–movie is very possible. It’s already been proven that it can at least be okay. I just don’t think that, primarily due to the length which would definitely cause pacing issues, art styles, and lack of involvement, a Silent Hill anime would likely get really stale and repetitive really fast.

Besides, if the Silent Hill game that got an anime happened to be Book of Memories, that alone would be a red flag.

The entire Kingdom Hearts franchise

via gamezone.com

As dearly beloved (ba dum tssss) as Kingdom Hearts is, it should come as no surprise that it’s on this list. First of all, the length. Between all the games,  it would probably take so long to finish a Kingdom Hearts anime that covered everything that Kingdom Hearts 3 would probably be out by the time the anime finished–and that’s assuming that its production company would give it all the time it needs rather than restricting its episode count like practically every anime to have come out in the past 10 years as I mentioned at the beginning of the article. Second, Kingdom Hearts is infamous for its horrible, incomprehensible writing. Especially if it had to be shortened and thus further rushing the already questionble writing, you’ll do Kingdom Hearts no favors. If you take the game play out of Kingdom Hearts, you’re left with a story that loses itself in its alleged symbolism, clearly doesn’t know where its been or where its going, and tries entirely too hard to be emotional and unpredictable to the point where it becomes the entire opposite: Dry, predictable, and forceful (and thus highly unsuccessful) in its “emotional plot twists.” The characters make it no better, since almost all of them are two-dimensional tropes rather than characters. The whole thing would look like a desperate attempt by the devs to see how many Disney characters they can throw in before Disney will finally sleep with them and give them some royalties.

In other words, I’m saying a Kingdom Hearts anime would be awful because it would be Once Upon a Time, but animated.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

via dorkly.com

When I think about why Ocarina of Time is such a fun game, I think about the freedom of the game: Freedom to forget the story and go on side quests whenever you want, freedom to leave the temple and explore, a huge open world with so much to explore and dozens–if not hundreds–of secrets to uncover. Sure, none of these things are required to beat the game, but they make it exponentially more fun. Ocarina of Time isn’t a very story-driven game–at least not very much compared to other Zelda games. This is a game that emphasizes the player’s freedom and wants you to get distracted and take your time and do what you want, when you want. This is a theme common in Zelda games, but is most prevalent in Ocarina of Time–at least out of the Zelda games I’ve played. I’m not an expert when it comes to The Legend of Zelda. Far from it. However, without the sense of freedom to do what you want when you want–not to mention the game play and the puzzles–I think Ocarina of Time would suffer more than any other Zelda game to rely entirely on its writing, characters, and story alone–free of side quests or distractions of any kind–as an anime would have to. Because it was made to be such a free game, the story isn’t as interesting as it is in other Zelda games–particularly Majora’s Mask, which has excellent storytelling in addition to freedom and fun game play. In short, Ocarina of Time wouldn’t be very interesting to watch because it would likely turn into another generic adventure anime with no particular highlights. Whereas games like Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess, for example, could still be found generally enjoyable relying on just their writing, Ocarina would struggle exponentially more than them because it simply has less writing because the game emphasizes freedom and game play more than any other Zelda game. The fun of Ocarina of Time comes from its freedom and game play–not the writing and story.

 

Anything Donkey Kong related

 

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, to help get my point across, I exclusively used games that I love for this list–including Kingdom Hearts, which I know is probably hard to believe at this point since I trash talked it so much, I’m sure. This doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t watch any of these anime though: If an anime were announced for any of these titles tomorrow, I’d absolutely watch them. I just wouldn’t count on them being good unless it were a side story or a retelling of some kind. Regardless, I’d like to encourage leaving comments with your thoughts: What are some games you like that you think would make awful anime? Why? Do you disagree with any of the games on this list? Did I leave anything out? Again, in the pursuit of knowledge, I’d like to heavily encourage feedback.

Zero Time Dilemma: A Spoiler-Free Review

July 6, 2016 Kennedy Reviews

This is a spoiler-free review. No Zero Time Dilemma (henceforth ZTD) spoilers, no Virtue’s Last Reward (henceforth VLR), and no 999 spoilers. Read to your heart’s content, but know that this is a trilogy that needs to be played in order: 999, VLR, and then ZTD. DO NOT play ZTD with having first played 999 and then VLR because several very important scenes won’t make sense, and moreover, you’ll spoil 999 and VLR for yourself.

 

 

It’s no secret that I’m quite a big fan of the Zero Escape series.

ZE

Being the finishing piece in a trilogy of critically acclaimed games, ZTD had very high expectations for its release. Ignoring the Amazon snafu (which thankfully, didn’t affect me) it seems to have been very well received within its first week, and definitely living up to the hype. Like many other fans, I’ve been looking forward to this game since before its release was even confirmed. I had high hopes. Seeing as how I picked it up on a Tuesday and beat it the following Friday, I’d say it didn’t disappoint.

 

 

Writing:

Arguably the most important part of a Zero Escape game is its writing. Most notably, it’s unique, almost Bioshock-esque way of strongly yet gracefully breaking the fourth wall—which is stronger than ever in ZTD. The plot, at its base, remains unchanged: Nine people are captured by a mysterious figure going by the name of Zero, who tells them that they must risk their lives and play his game to escape a confined area. Taking place one year after 999, it features the two main protagonists of 999, the two main protagonists of VLR, and 5 new characters. Unlike any other Zero Escape game, , character interactions feel more personal in this game because there are simply more characters who knew each other prior to the events of ZTD. Moreover, they’re the most bold, dynamic group we’ve seen in a Zero Escape game. Watching them interact with each other throughout the course of the game an seeing just how even the smallest things can set them off and how it effects everyone else—very much like a domino effect—is one of the best parts of the game. Moreso than any other Zero Escape game, ZTD truly brings the player into its world with its writing. The only main flaw with the writing is that whereas most of it is so detailed and well-thought out (like these games have been in the past) certain aspects of it (which I won’t mention specifically, but the image will say it all for those of you who have played the game, I’m sure) seemed to be written hastily, as they were never fully explained, and in some aspects, almost seem contradictory to previously established facts and traits of certain characters. Compared to the otherwise stellar writing in the game, it makes it all the more obvious when something wasn’t thought out to the fullest. Fortunately, this only happens a small number of times, but unfortunately, it only makes it all the more obvious and disappointing when it does happen. Although the writing in this game isn’t perfect, and definitely flawed by the aforementioned hasty sections, overall it’s still wonderful: All the questions left behind from 999 and VLR have been answered (albeit, some of them answered poorly, but answered nonetheless.) It’s worth mentioning, however, that this game left behind a few small questions itself. Not a ton of questions, but enough, I think, to warrant making an epilogue.

This just in: Local Man Ruins Everything via koizumiappreciation.tumblr.com

 

Gameplay:

The gameplay of ZTD consists of 3 major things: Shifting from fragment to fragment, puzzles, and decision games. Without any kind of context, the player is thrown into a story that, rather than being linear, is scattered into fragments. These fragments are bits of the story through the perspective of different groups of characters. You play as the different groups at different times, making different decisions that will affect other fragments. When it comes times to make choices, the story will branch based on what you choose, though you will return later to see what would happen had you done something else. When you switch to a new fragment, it’s referred to as “shifting” and there are characters who become aware of it, eventually, which is one of the major factors that the plot revolves around. Ultimately, you’ll be exploring every possible fragment and seeing every possible outcome and using your knowledge of the story to lead you to one true ending. Through this, you get to see the story unfold in a way unlike any other game. Additionally, there is a flowchart to help you keep track of the chronological order of everything.

via TechRaptor

Secondly, there are the puzzles. This is wherein the most gameplay resides. Throughout the game, you’ll be trapped in 13 different rooms and, through a series of puzzles and use of just about anything you can fin in the room, must escape. Additionally, many times the rooms will contain something that’s relevant to the plot, as well, so it’s not like you can just escape from a room and be done with it. What you find in that room remains relevant. Just as its the nature of a Zero Escape game to have these puzzles, though, it’s also in their nature to be quite… obtuse. ZTD is very interesting in this regard because there are many escape puzzles in this game which are, for a Zero Escape game (which are already known to be pretty tricky unless you’re using a guide or a walkthrough) pretty easy. These games make it no secret that they want you to use your brain—whether its in the scientifically-inclined writing or the gameplay. Despite that, however, most of the puzzles in this game didn’t feel as challenging as they were in the previous entries. On the other hand, the rooms that were difficult were obscenely difficult. There’s very little in-between, making it really hard to say whether this game is an easy or hard one overall—especially considering that you can do these rooms in any order you want because of the non-linear nature of this game.

via usgamer

Finally, there’s the decisions. Zero has gathered and trapped our nine protagonists to play the Decision Game. Essentially, what that means is, he reveals to them that to escape they need 6 X-Passes. Every time someone dies, an X-Pass is revealed—essentially meaning that to escape, 6 people must die. To add to the suspense, he constantly puts the characters in very difficult situations and puts them into (usually) life-threatning decisions: The Decision Game. You, the player, will be the one making the decision. As mentioned before, the point of the game is to see every possible outcome, so eventually, you will choose every possible answer to every possible dilemma. Rather than taking away from the situational drama, however, it adds to it. The point of the game is to use knowledge that you learned from shifting between fragments—even if it’s something that the characters you’re playing as don’t know. It is explained in-game how it’s possible for them to have this knowledge, but this is a spoiler-free review. One of the most satisfying parts of the game is learning new knowledge that’ll affect a decision that you might not have been able to make, or revealing a new answer that’ll take you deeper into the rich story of ZTD.

via punkandlizard

Despite all this, it’s worth noting that you will definitely be spending more time in this game watching cutscenes than not. Having such good writing and a riveting plot, I don’t think it’s much of an issue, but if you don’t like games where you watch more than you play—even if there’s still definite gameplay—then you probably won’t like just ZTD, but the Zero Escape trilogy as a whole because all 3 games are like this.

 

Art/Graphics:

Although the 2D art looks superb—especially next to the art of the previous entries in the games—and the sprites look remarkably better than they did in previous games, the visuals in this game aren’t without sin. Particularly in characters with long hair there are several instances of slight clipping, and mouths almost never sync up to what the characters are saying. Some might attribute that to the fact that this is a Japanese game and that it’s designed for the Japanese voice actors. I find that strange, however, seeing as how Zero Escape is remarkably more successful in the West. Moreover, the English version was released before the Japanese. Combined with the stiff animations, it’s easy to see why several fans were disappointed. Regardless, although noticeable, these aren’t major issues that are so distracting that they detract from the game over all.

via GamersAssaultWeekly

 

Verdict:

Although slightly marred by slipshod graphics and a few dashes of hasty writing, ZTD is the finest entry in the Zero Escape trilogy. It’s been a very long time since a game has put me on an emotional roller coaster as extreme in the one in ZTD. Worth every penny of its $40 price. A must-play for any Zero Escape fan, fans of puzzle games, fans of science fiction, or anyone looking for a few new handheld games to play.

via wegotthiscovered

2016 in Gaming: What I’m Still Excited For

June 20, 2016 Kennedy Blog

Now that we’re halfway done with the year and E3 has passed, now is a great time to look around us and start thinking about what the best games of the year have been so far, what we’re still excited for, and what the biggest disappointments have been so far. It’s been a very hectic year for gaming: A new generation of Pokemon is on the way, the Wii U’s impending end when we find out more about the NX, new versions of the PS4 and X-Box One on the way, Kojima returning to the game industry, the return of Star Fox and Resident Evil, a 5th Street Fighter game, the upcoming 25th Anniversary Party of Sonic the Hedgehog, 4K gaming,  and of course the beginning of The Lifecast to name a few of the most notable events.

We’ve already had some great games come out this year: So what’s left to be excited for? E3 gave us some great titles to be excited for but most of them won’t be out until next year. There’s still plenty of games coming out this year to be excited about, however. If you’ve been wanting some good titles coming out this year to keep your eye on, let me recommend you these 10 games coming out this year  that I’m excited for (in no particular order.)

 

Zero Time Dilemma

This one comes out on the 28th of this month, so fortunately, the wait won’t be much longer! It’s going to be the third and final installment of my favorite handheld series Zero Escape, home of 999 and Virtue’s Last Reward. The Zero Escape franchise is all about puzzles, the emphasis of choices, and quantum physics. In each game, you play as someone who’s been trapped in a confined space with 8 other people who’ve all been kidnapped by a mysterious man called Zero. You try to escape while solving the mysteries of why you’re there, who Zero is, why he kidnapped you, and so on. Each game emphasizes beating the game multiple times to get through multiple endings and fully understanding the consequences of your choices. The trailers make Zero Time Dilemma out to be much more dramatic than any of the other games, not to mention more visually stunning! A caveat, however, is that these games shouldn’t be played out of order: If this game looks interesting to you, yes, you need to play 999 and Virtue’s Last Reward first. The developer’s have already stated that answering questions that have been unanswered since 999 will be addressed, so you run the risk of both not fully understanding what’s going on and its significance, and spoiling 999 and Virtue’s Last Reward.

 

Tokyo Mirage Sessions:

This one comes out on the 24th of this month for Wii U. Like Zero Time Dilemma, the wait won’t be much longer. I like Fire Emblem. I like Persona. So I should probably like a game that’s basically Persona with Fire Emblem characters, right? Although I never got the chance to actually play it, I did watch other people play the demo at PAX East this year. It doesn’t look great, but it does look like something that I would try playing if I only had a Wii U.

 

Yiik

This game was the biggest hidden gem of PAX East: It’s an Earthbound-inspired post-modern RPG set in a hipster’s paradise in the 90’s and in case you haven’t heard: I absolutely love Earthbound. Gameplay is turn based and like Earthbound, uses real-world objects and even instruments–many of which need specific button-pressing to use, and it’s quite fun. The graphics are very stylized and charming, the developers seem to really understand the kind of world they want the game to be set in, and the story seems intriguing: You and your friends are looking for a girl who got sucked up by something otherworldly and disappeared. To quote the game’s website, “This is a story about what happens when you look for someone who can’t be found “ The game’s site also states that the game will have a 25 hour story, 6 unique dungeons, and an expansive soundtrack featuring songs by Toby Fox, Andrew Allanson, Hiroki Kikuta, and Calum Bowen amongst others. This game is supposed to be out sometime this summer, though there’s no confirmed date nor month. Once it’s out, it’ll be on Steam, PS4, PSVita, and Wii U.

 

No Man’s Sky

A gorgeous, Isaac Asimov-inspired adventure game set to come out August 9th for Steam and PS4, No Man’s Sky has done an incredible job generating hype. The game’s site calls it a “truly open universe” and emphasizes that this is a game about exploring a beautiful, well-built universe with more than 18 quintillion planets to explore. Needless to say, if this game lives up to these claims, this could be the biggest exploration game (second to Minecraft, if you want to get technical) to date.

 

Pokemon Sun & Moon

Duh

 

We Happy Few

I probably shouldn’t want this game after PAX East: I waited 90 minutes in their line to play the demo, finally got to the front, where I was only able to play for less than 5 minutes: They bragged about it being a rogue-like game, and that for the purposes of the demo, after you die it should give you the option to continue. I died, but was never taken to the continue screen and was kicked off because they had to keep the line moving. Needless to say, I was pretty bitter. I still am, although I did comment about it on their facebook page where one of the devs did apologize. That said, it’s really hard for me to talk about the gameplay because, well, I didn’t play it for hardly 5 minutes. What I can tell you is this, though: What got me the most interested in this game is the fact that the devs are saying it’s very Bioshock-inspired and Bioshock is my favorite game of all time. Mix that with some beautiful graphics, a very intriguing plot about drug addictions, and a very well-built world and you have a recipe for getting my attention. There are two things keeping me very hesitant, however: First of all, Compulsion Game’s track record.

(via CompulsionGames.com)

The only other game they’ve made is a platformer called Contrast and in theory, it sounded like a great, game, too! Bioshock inspired, beautiful graphics, intriguing story, and platforming where you use your shadow! That sounds awesome, right? I thought so and bought it on a Steam sale, but a very short duration, a story that never really got much more fleshed out than its description, and an overwhelming abundance of bugs and glitches ruined this game. Had it only been longer, had its story fully-realized, and had been well-patched, Contrast could’ve been a fantastic game. Needless to say, there’s nothing indicating We Happy Few won’t be the same way—but there’s also nothing indicating that it will be. Regardless, the bottom line is, I’m worried We Happy Few could fall into the same situation as Contrast.

Secondly, We Happy Few doesn’t seem to know what kind of a game it wants to be. The developers told me it was a Bioshock-inspired rogue-like survival game with first-person shooter, mystery, survival, and puzzle elements—that seems like an awful lot to be going on at once if you ask me. It’s possible it could pull it off, but the sheer amount of genres it seems to be trying to pull off makes me worried that they’ll try to do too much in too little time.

Despite all this, the trailer looks interesting and I haven’t heard bad things about the demo and from the 5 minutes I played of it, it seemed okay. I do love Bioshock, and so do these developers—so perhaps I’ll find solace in the Bioshock-inspired elements of the game. I guess I’ll find out when I’m finally able to play it—it’s supposed to come out for Steam and X-Box One sometime this year, and early access starts July 26th.

 

Mighty No. 9

(via MightyNo9.com)

Perhaps I shouldn’t say I’m as excited about this game as much as I am just curious. I’m sure by now most, if not all, of us are at least familiar with the story of Might No. 9, but just in case, let me briefly summarize: This game is meant to be a spiritual successor to the Megaman games and is being developed by Keiji Inafune—the man who made Megaman—with no involvement from Capcom whatsoever. It had overwhelming success on Kickstarter and everyone was super excited about this game. Originally, it was supposed to come out April 2015, but needless to say, that didn’t happen. Delay after delay, secretive development process, slipshod graphics, and arguably the most cringy trailer in gaming history killed most of the hype that this game had generated.

Its latest release date is June 21st –tomorrow. Needless to say, it’s a little too late to delay it now, so I think this release date is finally the one. I guess we’ll finally find out if it will live up to its initial hype or if everyone was right to stop caring about this game.

 

Final Fantasy XV

Like Mighty No. 9, perhaps “excited” isn’t as good a word to describe how I feel about it as much as “curious.” This game’s legendary 10-year development has fans wondering if it will have been worth the wait, and frankly, I’m not entirely sure. First of all, there’s the matter of the story. Originally this game was supposed to be Final Fantasy Versus XIII—a spinoff game for Final Fantasy XIII. Two sequels that somehow managed to be worse than Final Fantasy XIII later, however, I guess Square Enix started to realize how unnecessary another Final Fanasy XIII game would be. It makes me very curious about how they handled this change and if we’ll still see elements of XIII in the game. The combat demo we saw didn’t look particularly exciting, nor did it remind me much of a Final Fantasy game, to be honest. I really wish they’d return to the turn-based system from Final Fantasy X, but I realize that’s a very specific thing to nitpick at. It does look like a very expansive game though, and of course, I’m really curious to see how they’ll incorporate VR. This definitely won’t be a game that I preorder nor get on day 1, but it’s definitely a game I’ll be keeping a close eye on. It comes out September 30th on PS4 and X-Box One.

 

Star Ocean 5

I’ll be honest: I’ve never played a Star Ocean game. I’ve been interested in the Star Ocean series for a while now however, and after watching the demo at PAX East, I’m even more interested in it. Beautiful graphics, fun combat, and of course knowing that Square Enix is behind it, all make his game look very promising. This one will be out later this month on the 28th for PS4.

 

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice

There’s not a large difference between how much I love Ace Attorney versus my love of Zero Escape. Ace Attorney is a hilarious, fun, and incredibly clever series following defense attorney, Pheonix Wright, who always knows that his clients are innocent and will do anything to unveil the truth! I’ve been a huge fan of the Ace Attorney series since the release of Apollo Justice, so I’m more than welcoming for a new game in the franchise. There are 2 things that make this game really stand out from other titles that have fans the most excited. First of all, the setting:

We’re no longer in America/Japan (depending on what language you get the game in)—we’re in a remote, very traditional Japanese island with no formal court system. Instead, they rely on spirits revealing the truth. How is this going to play into the plot? What new gameplay mechanics will this give us? And of course, most importantly…

(via usgamer.net)

Pheonix’s beloved sidekick Maya Fey is finally back after a long absence that was never explained nor addressed until now. Not only are fans happy to see she’s back, but we’re also excited to find out what she’s been doing and why it hasn’t been talked about until now.

Spirit of Justice will be a digital-only release for the 3DS in September.